Saturday, April 7, 2018

Ethiopian Artifacts Returned To Country Through British Museum’s Loan Agreement

Ancient Ethiopian artifacts are reportedly headed back to their motherland from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The New York Times reports. The items were taken from the African country by British soldiers 150 years ago, and now the museum has decided to lend the country some of the pieces which include a crown, a chalice, a wedding dress and jewelry among other treasures.
The pieces form part of the museum’s exhibit titled “Maqdala 1868,” which are displayed in efforts to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of Maqdala between Ethiopia and the British. The project was in conjunction with the Ethiopian embassy in London.
“A clear statement to the ambassador, saying that if Ethiopia is interested in pursuing the long-term loan of the Maqdala items we would stand ready to assist,” said the museum’s director Tristram Hunt via the Art Newspaper.
Ethiopia’s several attempts to regain back its artifacts have been denied. Only 10 of the 498 items from the Maqdala time period have been returned, according to the Association For the Return of the Maqdala.
Reportedly, 80 items have been seized from the museum. Yet museum administrators think it’s a good idea to keep the artifacts because people across the globe have more access to them. “There is a great public benefit to material from Ethiopia being represented within the context of the British Museum’s world collection where it is accessible to millions of international visitors a year,” said a spokeswoman for the board of trustees.
Returning these cultural items to its original home is crucial for a country to preserve its culture. The argument also interweaves with the cultural appropriation debate. For instance, in recent years, France has recognized the need to return African items back to the continent. Reportedly, President Emmanuel Macron of France said giving Africa back their cultural items is of “top priority.”

Saturday, December 9, 2017

"Saudi Arabia, Egypt gave Trump green light regarding Jerusalem" Israel TV




Saudi attracts US attention by singing Israel's tunes - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]
Saudi attracts US attention by singing Israel's tunes - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]
Israel’s News 10 said Saudi Arabia and Egypt gave US President Donald Trump the go ahead to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city.
The channel said the Arab parties’ reactions and condemnations are not genuine and are misleading.
Israeli journalist and head of the Arab desk at the news channel, Zvi Yehezkeli stressed that the announcement could not have been made without coordination between Trump and his regional allies.
“I am not sure about the Arab countries’ reactions to this resolution,” Yehezkeli said, adding that the responses issued so far were not serious.
On Wednesday, the US President Donald Trump announced his decision to formally recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s new capital adding that the American embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
World leaders, from Europe to the Middle East to Australia, slammed the decision as a “unilateral and outside the vision of a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” warning of “heightened tensions or even violence across the Middle East.”

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Higher health risks for Israeli Ethiopian immigrants - Business & Innovation - Jerusalem Post


BY


 JUNE 25, 2017 02:46


The schizophrenia risk of the immigrants is twice as high as those of Israeli-born Ethiopian Jews.











Ethiopian Jews

A memorial ceremony for Jewish immigrants who died on the way to Israel from Ethiopia, June 5, 2016‏. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Immigrants of Ethiopian origin have a 2.4-fold risk of developing type-2 diabetes and a 1.5 higher risk of contracting schizophrenia than other Israelis, according to a recent discussion in the Knesset Labor, Social Welfare and Health Committee.



Dr. Yonatan Reuven, who conducts research on Ethiopian Jewish health, said that due to lifestyle and nutrition changes, the diabetes risk is significantly higher even than Jews of Ethiopian origin who were born in Israel. The condition is often accompanied by hypertension, obesity and tooth decay.




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The schizophrenia risk of the immigrants is twice as high as those of Israeli-born Ethiopian Jews. Although no explanation for this was given, 28% of the immigrants suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and the men were significantly more likely to commit suicide.



A month ago, changes in regulations instituted by the Health Ministry went into effect, allowing some Ethiopian immigrants, homosexuals and elderly people to donate blood. The change resulted from new Israeli and foreign epidemiological data and the improvement in medical technologies and risk assessment.





For many years, Jews of Ethiopian heritage who were born in Israel have been able to donate blood without limitation.



However, those who were born in Ethiopia or if they spent over a year, since 1977, in a country where HIV was endemic, had been banned. It was also forbidden for people of any origin over the age of 65 to give a first blood donation.



Thanks to the new changes, restrictions on Ethiopian immigrants who were born there were dropped, except those who spent more than a year in an HIV-endemic country and less than a year has passed since they arrived in Israel.



The questionnaire – filled out by all would-be donors about possible behaviors that could increase the risk of HIV infection such as homosexuality or intravenous drug use – has been updated and is identical to those adopted by the US Food and Drug Administration and health authorities in Europe. The tests used here for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus are significantly more sensitive than the old ones, thus the “window” of infection is being narrowed to a few days between infection by a carrier and testing for these viruses.


YALURONIC ACID IN CREAM, NOT INJECTION 




A Bar-Ilan University research team has developed a unique technology that produces small molecules of anti-aging hyaluronic acid polymers that can be applied as a cream instead of injections. The team, headed by Prof. Rachel Lubart and Prof. Aharon Gedanken from the chemistry and physics departments and BIU’s Institute for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, have been involved in the past few years in the development of a technology for micronization and characterization of hyaluronic acid.



The skin, which plays an important role in protecting the body’s organs, is impenetrable.



Finding means to penetrate the skin barrier has challenged the medical field for years. Huge efforts have been made in developing ways to introduce hyaluronic acid into the skin, as it cannot penetrate it naturally.



Now, based on this development, para-medical cosmetics pioneer Hava Zingboim has produced the first formula that allows the hyaluronic acid to penetrate into the deeper skin layers by means of cream application and without injection.



A key property of hyaluronic acid, which is naturally present in the body, is its ability to adsorb large quantities of water. Hyaluronic acid is also an effective antioxidant, which means it can trap the free radicals formed in the skin during inflammatory processes or as a result of exposure to UV rays. These properties make it an important anti-aging agent.



The look of young skin can be measured by the amount of hyaluronic acid between the cells. As people age, the body gradually loses its ability to produce hyaluronic acid.



The decreasing availability of hyaluronic acid directly results in sagging skin, wrinkles and fine lines.



CAN OMEGA-3 HELP PREVENT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE?



Neuroimaging shows increased blood flow in regions of the brain associated with memory and learning for people with higher omega-3 levels.



According to a new study headed by Dr. Daniel Amen of Costa Mesa, California, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, blood flow in specific areas of the brain rises in patients with high omega-3 levels. The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is expected to triple in the coming decades, and no cure has been found.



Recently, interest in dietary approaches for prevention of cognitive decline has increased. In particular, the omega-3 fatty acids have shown anti-amyloid, anti-tau and anti-inflammatory actions in the brains of animals.



“This study is a major advance in demonstrating the value of nutritional intervention for brain health by using the latest brain imaging,” commented biology Prof. George Perry of the University of Texas at San Antonio and editor-in-chief of the journal.



When single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is used to measure blood perfusion in the brain, images acquired from subjects performing various cognitive tasks show higher blood flow in specific brain regions. When these images were compared to the Omega-3 Index – a measure of the blood concentration of two omega-3 fatty acids called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) – investigators found a statistically significant correlation between higher blood flow and higher Omega-3 Index.



Co-author Dr. William Harris of the University of South Dakota School of Medicine said, “Although we have considerable evidence that omega-3 levels are associated with better cardiovascular health, the role of the ‘fish oil’ fatty acids in mental health and brain physiology is just beginning to be explored. This study opens the door to the possibility that relatively simple dietary changes could favorably impact cognitive function.”